Yes as the second job is material reward she would have to get the bus or a taxi

It is getting a bit complicated.
Years ago, I was member of a walking club.
We use to go out once a month.
We may have had different leaders each month who would chose a walk and recy it, taking note how much petrol they used to get to the start of the walk and back to York.
On the day of the walk members with cars would take members who had no car , or did not wish to take theirs.
members in each car would then share the cost of petrol.
Accepting payment from passengers will not affect your insurance cover if any money received does not produce a profit

Friends can car share no problem at all they are not customers so there is no material gain by offering a lift. The WRVS take our local old ladies to the doctors and get thier petrol re-embursed. It is not a business. B&B owners, gas fitters,etc. cannot carry customers of their business (or their spouse,daughters,etc business)You can give a collegue a lift to work but not a customer.Profit or no profit.

Almost told my boss to *** off and walk today ..... but then I though better of it!

In terms of my employment, I may be a bad example to pick. I do self-employed work for councils and housing associations and all the work I pick up has been as a result of my experience in the field and not because of any qualifications. And most of it is work in meetings or on computers - so its pretty low risk - so no insurance. Theoretically they could take me to the cleaners if I gave them duff advice - but then I make sure I don't give them duff advice.

I'm not knocking that you are doing what you have to do to fit in within the law - and fair play to you for doing it. Its just its a strange old world where we have to have loads of bits of paper in order to engage with life.

Presumably if the same things had been in place when I was a teenager hitching all over Europe and getting to meet loads of interesting people and seeing the world etc. - I'd have been standing by the roadside for a long long time.

Could somebody explain something for me. When in the UK (and Europe) and I hire a car there is an additional charge for an extra driver. I assume this is because the driver is the one insured, not necessarily the car. In talking my my UK in-laws this also seems to be the case with personal vehicle insurance. This does not seem to be the case if I hire a car in Australia. The hire car company does insist on seeing the driver's licence.

In Australia I insure the car, and as long as the driver is properly licenced and is over 25 there is no problem regardless of who is driving or who the passengers are, as long as the vehicle is not used for "hire or reward". Even if the driver is under 25 all that happens is that I end up with a higher excess if there is an accident.

Mark,
In the UK I am insured to drive my vehicle. My insurance premium depends on which vehicle I drive, how long I have held a full driving license, driving convictions if any, and number of years no claim bonus if any.
As my insurance is fully comprehensive, I am insured to drive a car belonging to someone else but not hired, on a third party basis. Another qualified driver is allowed to drive my vehicle, again on a third party basis.
For an extra premium another regular driver can be named on the policy to have fully comprehensive cover.
It is as simple as a question of whether in the UK, is it the driver or the car that is insured because it is a combination of both.
I remember when I was in the army and based in Germany (where I learnt to drive) it was the car that was insured, not the driver.
There was an increase in premium for younger drivers, however if the car was stolen and crashed or injured another driver or pedestrian, they could claim on the insurance as the car was insured.
In the UK this is not possible as the usual driver or one qualified and driving with his/her permission was not driving.
Dave.

MarkF

I can understand your reaction to the different insurance practices in England and Australia.

My son lives in Australia and is married to an Australian. His in-laws generously offered me use of a car while I was there, and when I quizzed them about insurance they were surprised. It seems the Australian system is much more free and easy and simple than ours (no surprise there!).

There's no point in a layman like me trying to spell out the ways of insurance companies. It's really a case of asking questions when you pick up a rental car - or when a friend offers you use of a car as a favour.

Dave and Pete, thanks for the clarification. Insurance companies work in strange and mysterious ways.

Joyce's issue of "hire or reward" is the similar to Australia. The vehicle has to be licenced and regularly inspected. We also require the driver to have additional training and their drivers licence carries an endorsement to permit driving a public vehicle. However the idea that you cannot give your neighbour a lift because they are on the way to work seems a bit of a stretch even for UK regulations.

You can give neighbours a lift it`s called car sharing(this also covers hitch hikers) and it is specifically excempt from PSV restrictions but if you are running a business you cannot carry customers.